Femto cell visitation history for location based services

ABSTRACT

Collection and communication of data are provided on handset attachment procedure, or visitation, to one or more femto cells to provide location information. A mobility component receives actual subscriber and femto access point (AP) attachment signaling and extracts visitation data that facilitates generation of real-time or historical visitation reports. Location information is conveyed through visitation reports which can include mobile device identifier(s), femto AP location, and a timestamp. Visitation reports also can include processed visitation data such as mobility matrices, historical mobility patterns or profiles, and predicted mobility events. Provision of location information occurs without the need for dedicated handset functionality, and associated hardware, or additional battery draw.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of, and claims thebenefit of priority to each of, U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser.No. 14/318,807, entitled “FEMTO CELL VISITATION HISTORY FOR LOCATIONBASED SERVICES” and filed Jun. 30, 2014, which is a divisionalapplication of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 13/462,318,entitled “FEMTO CELL VISITATION HISTORY FOR LOCATION BASED SERVICES” andfiled May 2, 2012 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,818,404), which is a divisionalapplication of, and claims the benefit of priority to U.S.Non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 12/342,967, entitled “FEMTOCELL VISITATION HISTORY FOR LOCATION BASED SERVICES” and filed on Dec.23, 2008 (Now U.S. Pat. No. 8,190,194). The respective entireties of theabove-referenced applications are each hereby incorporated by referenceherein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject application relates to wireless communications and, moreparticularly, to collection and communication of data on handsetattachment procedure, or visitation, to one or more femto cells toprovide location information at reduced handset hardware complexity andcost, and battery draw.

BACKGROUND

Femto cells—building-based wireless access points interfaced with awired broadband network—are generally deployed to improve indoorwireless coverage and to offload a mobility radio access network (RAN)operated by a wireless network and service provider. Femto cellstypically operate in licensed portions of the electromagnetic spectrum,and generally offer plug-and-play installation; e.g., automaticconfiguration of femto AP subsequent to femto cell subscriberregistration with a service provider. Improved indoor coverage includesstronger signal and improved reception (e.g., voice or data), ease ofsession or call initiation, and session or call retention as well.Offloading a RAN reduces operational and transport costs for a serviceprovider since a lesser number of end users utilizes over-the-air (OTA)radio resources (e.g., radio frequency bands and channels), which aretypically limited.

Coverage of a femto cell, or femto access point (AP), is generallyintended to be confined within the bounds of an indoor compound (e.g., aresidential or commercial building) in order to mitigate interferenceamong mobile stations covered by a macro cell and terminals covered bythe femto AP. Additionally, confined coverage can reduce cross-talkamong terminals serviced by disparate, neighboring femto cells as well.Coverage improvements via femto cells can also mitigate customerattrition as long as a favorable subscriber perception regarding voicecoverage and other data services with substantive delay sensitivity, orotherwise, is attained. In addition, a richer variety of wireless voiceand data services can be offered to customers via a femto cell sincesuch service offerings do not rely primarily on mobility RAN resources.

Subscriber location information is valuable intelligence, orinformation, that facilitates delivery of various location-specificservices and marketing, which can include advertisement campaignsrelated to femto cell service. As an example, information services,e.g., subscriber-driven search, may be automatically tuned to suit thesubscriber by sorting search results according to distance of entitiesin the search results from known location of the subscriber thatconducted the search. As another example, advertisements and othermarketing elements also may be pushed towards mobile device(s) displaywhen a subscriber associated therewith is known to be near a businessassociated with the advertisement or marketing elements. Conventionalmechanism(s) to track subscriber location typically have accuracydrawbacks, battery life inefficiencies, or require dedicated hardwarethat results in increases cost of mobile devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic deployment of a macro cells and a femtocells for wireless coverage, wherein femto cell access points canexploit aspects of the subject embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example system that exploits femto cellvisitation data to generate mobility history to identify real-time andhistorical location intelligence according to aspects described herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example embodiment of amobility component that is part of an example system that collects,processes, and delivers femto visitation data in accordance with aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example embodiment of a reportcomponent that is part of an example system that collects, processes,and delivers femto visitation data in accordance with aspects describedherein.

FIG. 5 illustrates diagrams of a set of femto access points andsubscriber stations, and an example mobility matrix, respectively, inaccordance with aspects described herein.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example system that exploit visitationreport(s) for location based services in accordance with aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example method for collecting attachmentsignaling associated with attachment procedure(s) to one or more femtocells, and forwarding femto visitation data according to aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 8 presents a flowchart of an example method for supplying a reporton visitation data according to aspects described herein.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an example method for supplying a report onvisitation data according to aspects described herein.

FIG. 10 presents a flowchart of an example method for supplying a reporton visitation data according to aspects described herein.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an example method for exploiting locationinformation extracted from femto visitation data according to aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 12 illustrates example macro and femto wireless networkenvironments that can exploit femto APs that utilize aspects of thesubject embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject application is now described with reference to the drawings,wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elementsthroughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. It may be evident, however, thatthe present invention may be practiced without these specific details.In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in blockdiagram form in order to facilitate describing the present invention.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “node,” “system,”“platform,” “constructor,” “interface,” “layer” and the like areintended to refer to a computer-related entity or an entity related toan operational machine with one or more specific functionalities. Theentities disclosed herein can be either hardware, a combination ofhardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example,a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on aprocessor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution,a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both anapplication running on a server and the server can be a component. Oneor more components may reside within a process and/or thread ofexecution and a component may be localized on one computer and/ordistributed between two or more computers. Also, these components canexecute from various computer readable media having various datastructures stored thereon. The components may communicate via localand/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having oneor more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting withanother component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across anetwork such as the Internet with other systems via the signal).

In addition, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the naturalinclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or Xemploys both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any ofthe foregoing instances. Moreover, articles “a” and “an” as used in thesubject specification and annexed drawings should generally be construedto mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from contextto be directed to a singular form.

Furthermore, terms like “user equipment,” “mobile station,” “mobile,”“subscriber station,” “access terminal,” “terminal,” and similarterminology, refer to a wireless device utilized by a subscriber or userof a wireless communication service to receive or convey data, control,voice, video, sound, gaming, or substantially any data-stream orsignaling-stream. The foregoing terms are utilized interchangeably inthe subject specification and related drawings. Likewise, the terms“access point,” “base station,” “Node B,” “evolved Node B,” “Home AccessPoint,” and the like, are utilized interchangeably in the subjectapplication, and refer to a wireless network component or electronicappliance, or apparatus, that serves and receives data, control, voice,video, sound, gaming, or substantially any data-stream orsignaling-stream from either a set of subscriber stations or networkcomponents (e.g., network platform(s), radio network controller(s),gateway node(s), serving node(s), control node(s), server(s) . . . ), ora combination thereof. Data and signaling streams can be packetized orframe-based flows. In addition, the terms “femto cell access point” or“femto access point” are utilized interchangeably.

Further yet, the terms “user,” “subscriber,” “customer,” “consumer,”“prosumer,” “agent,” and the like are employed interchangeablythroughout the subject specification, unless context warrants particulardistinction(s) among the terms. It should be appreciated that such termscan refer to human entities or automated components supported throughartificial intelligence (e.g., a capacity to make inference based oncomplex mathematical formalisms) which can provide simulated vision,sound recognition and so forth.

Wireless environments that include femto network deployments add a wholenew layer, or dimension, of attachment procedure(s) frequency andlocation accuracy because femto cells, or femto APs, have relativelyunique identifier(s), cover small confined areas compared to macro cellsor sectors, and have known locations. As discussed in greater detailbelow, femto visitation history for location based services includessystem(s) and method(s) to exploit real time and past femto “visitation”history of a subscriber to pinpoint a location thereof. In an aspect,femto visitation history can leverage known location, confined coveragearea, and substantive number of femto cells to pinpoint subscriberlocation while in a subscriber station operates in the idle mode.Aspect, features, or advantages of the subject application and system(s)and method(s) therein can be applied to most any or any femto or macroradio technology; event though to facilitate explanation, non-limitingexamples based at least in part on UMTS radio technology are utilized inthe subject specification.

System(s) and method(s) are provided for collection and communication ofdata on handset attachment procedure, or visitation, to one or morefemto cells to provide location information. A mobility componentreceives actual subscriber and femto access point (AP) attachmentsignaling and extracts visitation data that facilitates generation ofreal-time or historical visitation reports. Location information isconveyed through visitation reports, which in real-time reporting caninclude mobile device identifier(s), femto AP location, and a timestamp.Historical reporting can include processed visitation data such asmobility matrices, historical mobility patterns or profiles, andpredicted mobility events. Historical visitation reports can span a timeinterval configured by one or more mobile network components. Format ofvisitation reports can be requested through signaling conveyed by anentity that consumes location information. Provision of locationinformation occurs without the need for dedicated handset functionality,and associated hardware, or additional battery draw.

At least three advantages of the subject application and are that (i) itprovides accurate subscriber location supplied with most any or anyhandset that utilizes same radio technology as deployed femto cells;(ii) additional handset receivers or transmitters (e.g., Wi-Fi or GPStransceiver(s)) or associated circuitry are not required; and (iii)signaling associated with location information from and to handset(s) issubstantially mitigated with the ensuing handset battery draw reductionwith respect to mechanism that generate location intelligence throughsubstantive signaling. It is noted that at least advantage (i)-(iii) canexpand the appeal and market share of location based servicessubstantially beyond current limitation(s) imposed by handset hardwareand traffic-dependent location reporting techniques or mechanisms.

Embodiments described in the subject specification can be exploited insubstantially any wireless communication technology, in connection withaccess point power management. For instance, Wi-Fi, WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Enhanced GPRS or EnhancedData Rates for GSM (EDGE), 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)Long Term Evolution, 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) UltraMobile Broadband, 3GPP Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS),High-Speed Packet Access, or Zigbee. Additionally, substantially allaspects of the subject application as disclosed in the subjectspecification can be exploited in legacy telecommunication technologiessuch as GSM.

The following description and accompanying drawings set forth in detailcertain illustrative aspects of the embodiments. However, these aspectsare indicative of but a few of the various ways in which the principlesof the invention may be employed.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless environmentthat includes macro cells and femto cells for wireless coverage inaccordance with aspects described herein. In wireless environment 100,two areas 105 represent “macro” cell coverage, each macro cell is servedby a base station 110. It should be appreciated that macro cells 105 areillustrated as hexagons; however, macro cells can adopt other geometriesgenerally dictated by the deployment or floor plan, geographic areas tobe covered (e.g., a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) or ruralstatistical area (RSA)), and so on. Macro coverage is generally intendedto serve mobile wireless devices, like UE 120 _(A), in outdoorslocations. An over-the-air wireless link 115 provides such coverage, thewireless link 115 comprises a downlink (DL) and an uplink (UL), andutilizes a predetermined band of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum. Asan example, UE 120 _(A) can be a Third Generation Partnership Project(3GPP) Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) mobile phone. Itis noted that a base station, its associated electronics, circuitry orcomponents, and a wireless link operated in accordance to the basestation form a radio access network (RAN). In addition, base station 110communicates via backhaul link(s) 151 with a macro network platform 108,which in cellular wireless technologies (e.g., 3rd GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) Universal Mobile Telecommunication System(UMTS), Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM)) represents a corenetwork. In an aspect, macro network platform 108 controls a set of basestations 110 that serve either respective cells or a number of sectorswithin such cells. Macro network platform 108 also communicates withother base stations (not shown) that serve other cells (not shown).Backhaul link(s) 151 can include a wired backbone link (e.g., opticalfiber backbone, twisted-pair line, T1/E1 phone line, a digitalsubscriber line (DSL) either synchronous or asynchronous, an asymmetricADSL, or a coaxial cable . . . ). Backhaul pipe(s) 155 link disparatebase stations 110.

In wireless environment 100, within one or more macro coverage cell 105,a set of femto cell 125 served by respective femto access points (APs)130 can be deployed. While in illustrative wireless environment 100three femto cells are deployed per macro cell, aspects of the subjectapplication are geared to femto cell deployments with substantive femtoAP density, e.g., 10⁴-10⁸ femto APs 130 per base stations 110. A femtocell 125 typically covers an area that includes confined area 145, whichis determined, at least in part, by transmission power allocated tofemto AP 130, path loss, shadowing, and so forth. While coverage area125 and confined area 145 typically coincide, it should be appreciatedthat in certain deployment scenarios, coverage area 125 can include anoutdoor portion (e.g., a parking lot, a patio deck, a recreation areasuch as a swimming pool and nearby space) while area 145 spans anenclosed living space. Coverage area typically is spanned by a coverageradius that ranges from 20 to 100 meters. Confined coverage area 145 isgenerally associated with an indoor space such as a building, eitherresidential (e.g., a house, a condominium, an apartment complex) orbusiness (e.g., a library, a hospital, a retail store), which encompassa setting that can span about 5000 sq. ft.

A femto AP 130 typically serves a few (for example, 1-5) wirelessdevices (e.g., subscriber station 120 _(B)) within confined coveragearea 125 via a wireless link 135 which encompasses a downlink (DL) andan uplink (UL). A femto network platform 109 can control such service,in addition to mobility handover from macro-to-femto handover and viceversa, and registration and provisioning of femto APs. Control, ormanagement, is facilitated by backhaul link(s) 153 that connect deployedfemto APs 130 with femto network platform 109. Backhaul pipe(s) 153 aresubstantially the same as backhaul link(s) 151. In an aspect of thesubject application, part of the control effected by femto AP 130measurements of radio link conditions and other performance metrics.Femto network platform 109 also includes components, e.g., nodes,gateways, and interfaces, that facilitates packet-switched (PS) (e.g.,internet protocol (IP)) traffic and signaling generation for networkedtelecommunication. It should be appreciated that femto network platform109 can be femto AP 130 can integrate seamlessly with substantially anypacket switched (PS)-based and circuit switched (CS)-based network suchas macro network platform 108. Thus, operation with a wireless devicesuch as 120 _(A) is substantially straightforward and seamless whenhandover from femto-to-macro, or vice versa, takes place. As an example,femto AP 130 can integrate into an existing 3GPP Core Network viaconventional interfaces, or reference links, such as Iu-CS, Iu-PS, Gi,or Gn.

It is to be noted that substantially all voice or data active sessionsassociated with subscribers within femto cell coverage (e.g., area 125)are terminated once the femto AP 130 is shut down; in case of datasessions, data can be recovered at least in part through a buffer (e.g.,a memory) associated with a femto gateway at the femto network platform.Coverage of a suspended or hotlined subscriber station or associatedaccount can be blocked over the air-interface. However, if a suspendedor hotlined customer who owns a femto AP 130 is in Hotline/Suspendstatus, there is no substantive impact to the customers covered throughthe subject femto AP 130. In another aspect, femto AP 130 can exploithigh-speed downlink packet access either via an interface with macronetwork platform 108 or through femto network platform 109 in order toaccomplish substantive bitrates.

In addition, in yet another aspect, femto AP 130 has cell identifier(s)(e.g., a LAC (location area code) and RAC (routing area code)) that isdifferent from the underlying macro network. It should be appreciatedthat in macro networks, cell identifiers (IDs) such as LAC and RAC arereused over several base stations, or Node Bs, and large areas solocation information, or intelligence, accuracy and attachmentprocedure(s) (e.g., LAU or RAU) frequency are relatively low. It shouldbe noted that based at least in part on radio technology deployment formacro networks, cell ID reuse granularity may differ, wherein radiotechnologies with distributed processing and more signaling capacity mayafford more granular cell ID (e.g., LAC and RAC) assignments.

Femto LAC and RAC are used to identify subscriber station location for avariety of reasons, most notably to direct incoming voice and datatraffic to appropriate paging transmitters, and emergency calls as well.As a subscriber station (e.g., UE 120 _(A)) that exploits macro coverage(e.g., cell 105) enters femto coverage (e.g., area 125), the subscriberstation (e.g., UE 120 _(A)) attempts to attach to the femto AP 130through transmission and reception of attachment signaling. Thesignaling is effected via DL/UL 135; in an aspect of the subjectapplication, the attachment signaling can include a Location Area Update(LAU) and/or Routing Area Update (RAU). As an example of attachmentprocedure and mechanis(s) associated therewith, UMTS handsets monitornetwork pilots, e.g., generated through a femto cell, while in the idlemode; each pilot includes LAC and/or RAC. As a subscriber station movesbetween pilots, e.g., moves within a macro sector and reaches vicinityof a femto cell, the subscriber station probes for a change in LAC orRAC. When a change in LAC or RAC is detected, the subscriber stationperforms LAU and/or RAU so mobile network(s) becomes aware of subscriberstation location in order to properly route incoming call pages.Attachment attempts are thus a part of procedures to ensure mobility, sovoice calls and data sessions can be initiated even after amacro-to-femto transition or vice versa.

It is to be noted that UE 120 _(A) can be employed seamlessly aftereither of the foregoing transitions. In addition, femto networkstypically are designed to serve stationary or slow-moving traffic withreduced signaling loads compared to macro networks. A femto serviceprovider network 165 (e.g., an entity that commercializes, deploys, orutilizes femto access point 130) is therefore inclined to minimizeunnecessary LAU/RAU signaling activity at substantially any opportunityto do so, and through substantially any available means. It is to benoted that substantially any mitigation of unnecessary attachmentsignaling/control is advantageous for femto cell operation. Conversely,if not successful, UE 120 _(A) is generally commanded (through a varietyof communication means) to select another LAC/RAC or enter “emergencycalls only” mode. It is to be appreciated that this attempt and handlingprocess can occupy significant UE battery, and femto AP capacity andsignaling resources (e.g., communication of pilot sequences) as well.

When an attachment attempt is successful, UE 120 _(A) is allowed onfemto cell 125, and incoming voice and data traffic are paged and routedto the subscriber through the femto AP 130. To facilitate voice and datarouting, and control signaling as well, successful attachment can berecorded in a memory register, e.g., a Visited Location Register (VLR),or substantially any data structure stored in a network memory. It is tobe noted also that packet communication (e.g., voice and data traffic,and signaling) typically paged/routed through a backhaul broadband wirednetwork backbone 153 (e.g., optical fiber backbone, twisted-pair line,T1/E1 phone line(s), T3 phone line(s), digital level zero line (DSO),digital subscriber line (DSL) either synchronous or asynchronous, anasymmetric DSL, a coaxial cable . . . ). To this end, femto AP 130 istypically connected to the broadband backhaul network backbone 140 via abroadband modem (not shown). In an aspect of the subject application,femto AP 130 can display status indicators for power, activebroadband/DSL connection, gateway connection, and generic or specificmalfunction. In another aspect, no landline is necessary for femto AP130 operation.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example system 200 that exploits femtocell visitation data to generate mobility history to proactivelyidentify real-time and historical location intelligence according toaspects described herein. Femto network platform 210 receives attachmentsignaling 228 associated with attachment procedure attempt(s), such aslocation area update (LAU) or routing area update (RAU)) attempts, thatarise from mobile device 205 upon detection of femto pilot signal(s)delivered by a femto AP (e.g., one of femto AP 202-204). Such attachmentattempt(s) occurs when mobile device 205 operates in idle mode in theproximity of the femto AP and detect at least one of location area codeor routing area code difference, compared to macro. Attachment signaling228 can reveal actual mobility scenarios associated with mobiledevice(s) within a deployed femto network, and include information onacceptance or rejection of attachment procedure attempts. It is to benoted that attachment procedure are asynchronous, and a single mobiledevice can attempt to attached to various femto cells, served viarespective femto APs, located in disparate geographic areas; e.g.,mobile device 205 can attempt to attach to femto cell 202, 203, or 204.

In an aspect, rejection or acceptance of an attempted attachmentprocedure (e.g., LAU or RAU), and ensuing allowance or rejection to campon a femto AP that is the target of an attachment procedure, can bebased at least in part upon whether mobile device 205 is included inaccess list(s) (not shown) that authorize coverage through the femto AP(e.g., one of femto APs that serve femto cells 202-205). Such accesscontrol procedure (e.g., LAU or RAU), despite its outcome, includescommunication of international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) betweenmobile 205 and femto network platform 210; it should be appreciated thatsuch communication takes place through attachment signaling 224. In anaspect, gateway node(s) 218 receives attachment signaling 224 in relaysit to mobility component 214, which receives the IMSI associated withmobile 205 in addition to information that indentifies the targetedfemto AP (e.g., femto AP 202) such as, for example, at least one of LACor RAC, as a part of mobility event(s). Moreover, mobility component214, through clock system 227 (which can be embodied at least in part inone or more clock strata) can monitor a timeline for the mobilityevent(s), wherein the timeline can include timestamps and attachmenttimers. Thus, in mobility event(s), femto network platform 210 canidentify at least one of which handset(s) attempts to attach to aspecific femto AP, time(s) at which such attempt is conducted, orattachment timers that reveal a dwell time of a mobile device within afemto AP.

Mobility component 214 conveys identification information of mobile(s)and femto AP(s) in mobility event(s), and timestamp(s) associatedtherewith to report component 222 which can collect and process suchinformation. It is noted that process can include at least one ofanalysis, formatting, filtering, aggregation, or the like. As part ofprocessing collected identification information of mobile(s) and femtoAP(s) and timestamp(s), report component 222 can generate, or supply,mobility reports, e.g., visitation report(s) 232, and retain and conveysuch visitation report(s) 234. In an aspect, visitation report(s) 232can include, or be aggregated with, subscriber information, orintelligence, extracted from subscriber database 256; the subscriberinformation associated with either the mobile(s) that attemptsattachment or the femto AP, or both. Mobility events can be reported onreal time, or at specific time interval(s), e.g., several minutes,hours, or days. It is noted that as time progresses, several mobiledevices, which can be identified, e.g., via IMSI linked thereto, canattempt to attach to several femto AP(s). At least a portion or thetotality of the several mobile device-femto AP tuples generated in avisitation event(s) are retained, e.g., in visitation data store 252,and processed, e.g., counted, clustered, etc., for utilized in one ormore of applications, location based or otherwise. Mobility reports canbe retained in memory element visitation report(s) 244 within memory240, and can be delivered through a wired or wireless network link 234.

Visitation report(s) 228 can include at least in part identification ofmobile(s) and femto AP(s) involved in mobility events, or timelinesassociated therewith; as a non-limiting example, such visitationreport(s) 228 can include an IMSI; femto AP location such as latitudeand longitude, and a time of visitation event. Since a mobile device(e.g., mobile device 205) can attempt attachment to disparately locatedfemto APs, information manipulated at least by report component 222 andincluded within visitation report(s) 228 can be utilized, e.g., as apowerful enabler, for location based services. In an aspect of thesubject application, real-time or historical mobility report(s) can beprovided, or delivered, to a location based service platform (not shown)for location based applications.

It is noted that at least three advantages of the subject applicationand, particularly, or example system 200, are that (i) it providesaccurate subscriber location supplied with most any or any handset(e.g., mobile 205) that utilizes same radio technology as deployed femtocells (e.g., femto cells 202-204); (ii) additional handset receivers ortransmitters (e.g., Wi-Fi or GPS transceiver(s)) or associated circuitryare not required; and (iii) signaling associated with locationinformation from and to handset(s) is substantially mitigated with theensuing handset battery draw reduction with respect to mechanism thatgenerate location intelligence through substantive signaling. It isnoted that at least advantage (i)-(iii) can expand the appeal and marketshare of location based services substantially beyond currentlimitation(s) imposed by handset hardware and traffic-dependent locationreporting techniques or mechanisms.

In addition, with respect to advantage (ii) it is noted thatconventional mechanism that provide location information such asAssisted Global Positioning System (AGPS) coordinate reporting and Wi-Fiaccess point reporting require dedicated hardware (e.g., AGPS receiversand Wi-Fi receivers) within mobile device in order to collect anddeliver location information from the mobile device to a specificservice provider. Inclusion of such dedicated hardware and associatedapplication(s) add cost and complexity to the mobile device. Moreover,measurements associated with AGPS coordinate reporting and Wi-Fi accesspoint reporting may be collected and reported by the mobile deviceaccording to a routine and timers associated therewith, or on-demand bya specific location based application. In contrast to features andaspect of the subject application, AGPS coordinate reporting andrequires the mobile device to routinely activate AGPS receivers andwireless transmitters to collect and deliver location informationLikewise, Wi-Fi access point reporting requires mobile device toroutinely activate a Wi-Fi receiver and wireless transmitter to collectand forward Wi-Fi SSID. Such activation process in these conventionalmechanisms creates additional battery draw in the mobile device, andradio network traffic. In further contrast to the features of thesubject application, such activation processes can be slowed in such amanner so as to detrimentally affect latency or accuracy. Further yet,in AGPS coordinate reporting, AGPS receiver and associatedapplication(s) only operate when geopositioning satellites are visible,which generally does not occur very well indoors. In connection withWi-Fi access point (AP) reporting, while in some cases Wi-Fi APlocations are known and may be useful for generation of locationintelligence, not all Wi-Fi SSID locations are known.

With respect to advantage (iii), the subject application provideslocation intelligence with substantially less signaling and battery drawthan conventional cellular sector ID reporting. In the latterconventional mechanism, while in a call (data session or voice), amobile device can be prompted to convey serving macro cell ID, which hasa location known to the network. Service macro cell ID may be collectedand reported by the mobile device according to a routine and timersthereof, or on-demand by a specific location based application. However,unlike the mechanism described herein, conventional cellular IDreporting requires the mobile device to routinely make calls to collectand forward serving macro cell ID. Thus, such a process createsadditional mobile device battery draw and radio network traffic. Infurther contrast to the features of the subject application, suchprocess can be slowed in such a manner so as to affect latency oraccuracy. Further yet, macro sectors are substantially larger than femtocells and thus resulting measurements as applied to location aresubstantially inaccurate.

Processor(s) 226 can be configured to confer, at least in part,functionality to components in example system 200, or execute one ormore components, nodes, or layers therein. To at least such ends,processor(s) 226 can execute code instructions or program modules (notshown) stored in memory 240, and exploit related data structures (e.g.,objects, classes).

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example embodiment 300 of amobility component that is part of an example system that collects,processes, and delivers femto visitation data in accordance with aspectsdescribed herein. Mobility component 214 can include an attachmentcomponent 304 that can count or monitor the number of attachmentprocedures (e.g., LAU or RAU) associated with a mobile device and afemto access point identified at least in part through a specific LAC.In an aspect, as described above, authorization to attach to a femto APcan be granted through access list(s) that includes unique identifiersof respective mobile devices that can access femto coverage through aspecific femto AP. When an attachment procedure is successful, mobilitycomponent 220 can (i) update location register 314 (e.g., home locationregister, visited location register, home agent memory . . . ) toreflect the new location of the mobile device; and (ii) trigger anattachment timer, e.g., via clock system 227 (not shown in FIG. 3)associated with the mobile device. When the mobile device detaches fromthe femto AP, attachment component 304 can stop the attachment timer,and record its magnitude in attachment timer store 312 within memory308; location register also is updated. It is noted that while memory308 is illustrated within mobility component 214, it can be a part ofmemory 240. It is further noted that attachment timers can determinedwell time, within a femto AP, of a mobile device that successfullyattaches to the femto AP. In addition, attachment timers can facilitate,at least in part, generation of mobility patterns. In an aspect inconnection with dwell time(s) determined by attachment timer(s), if amobile device attempts attachment procedure(s) (e.g., LAU or RAU) withthe same femto AP multiple times in a day, or substantially anypredetermined time interval, the mobile device is likely stationary andfrequently served, during various times equal to respective dwell times,or interfered by the femto AP. Such information can facilitate morefocused determination of mobility profile(s) and transmission oflocation-based information, or intelligence, based upon at least in partwhere the mobile device is most.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example embodiment 400 of areport component that is part of an example system that collects,processes, and delivers femto visitation data in accordance with aspectsdescribed herein. In addition to generation of real-time visitationreport(s) 428 which can include a UE identifier (ID) 429, a femto APlocation 431, and a timestamp 433, data management component 404 cangenerate mobility report(s) based at least in part on historicalvisitation data and analysis thereof. It is noted that UE ID 429 can bean IMSI, electronic serial number (ESN), mobile equipment identifier(MEID), mobile directory number (MDN), or the like. It is further notedthat femto AP location can be provided as at least one of a geocode andassociated geographic coordinates such as latitude and longitude, orlatitude, longitude, and altitude; a street address; a parcel record; aZIP code; or the like. To process real-time and historical visitationdata generated through attachment signaling 228, and deliver associatedmobility report(s), e.g., visitation report(s) 232, report component 214includes a data management component 404 that gathers data fromvisitation data store 252 and supplies the data for analysis thereof.Data management component 404 includes a format component 408 that cancompose substantially any, or any, mobility report(s), e.g., real-timereport(s) or historical report(s). It is to be noted that formatcomponent 408 can cast visitation report(s) 232 in accordance with oneor more of various schemas, such as hypertext markup language (HTML) andextensible markup language (XML) and variants (e.g., state chart XML(SCXML)), that are portable among computing platforms, wireless (e.g., aportable computer or mobile device) or otherwise, and object-orientedcomputing languages employed by a wireless device such as Delphi, VisualBasic, Python, Perl, Java, C++, and C#, and circuitry programming levellanguages such as Verilog. In addition, format component 408 can castvisitation data into various formats to facilitate analysis thereof andrelated reporting.

To supply visitation data for analysis, data management component 404can utilize format component 408 to aggregate visitation data over oneor more time interval configured by data management component 404 inorder to generate record(s) of historical visitation data. Aggregationof femto visitation data also can include information record(s) linkedto a specific subscriber or subscriber groups (e.g., customer segments,groups of subscribers included in one or more related access lists . . .) associated with one or more handsets for which visitation data isavailable. In addition, format component 408 can compress visitationdata for efficient storage in visitation data store 252 or manipulationby analysis component 416; compressed data can be decompressed when datamanagement component 404 is polled, for example, by analysis component416. In an aspect, compression can be implemented through wavelet-basedalgorithm(s) which can be stored in algorithm(s) storage 426.

In an aspect, format component 408 can utilize a mobility matrixconstructor 412 that is included in data management component 404.Mobility matrix constructor 412 can generate one or more matrices thatcan reveal relationship(s) among subscriber station(s) mobility anddeployed femto access points in a femto network. A mobility matrix canbe constructed through enumeration of visits, or visit attempts, from aspecific handset to a specific femto AP. Such enumeration can beimplemented through visitation data retained in visitation data store252. A mobility matrix element is set equal to the number of attempts toattach to a specific femto AP effected by a mobile device. In an aspect,matrix constructor can generate a mobility matrix indexed via mobiledevice ID in rows, and femto AP ID in columns. Alternatively or inaddition, a mobility matrix can be indexed through AP ID in rows and UEID in columns. With respect to structure, a mobility matrix has integermatrix elements, and it generally is a sparse matrix; each mobile devicein a set of mobile device does not visit each femto AP in a set ofdeployed femto APs utilized, in part, to generate a mobility matrix.Mobility matrices can be retained in mobility matrix storage 422; it isnoted that the generally sparse structure of mobility matricesfacilitate efficient storage.

For a set of mobile devices and femto AP, it should be appreciated thatmatrix elements in a mobility matrix become increasingly more accurateas the number of attachment procedure (e.g., LAU or RAU) attemptsincrease. Such increase is based at least in part on the increase in themagnitude of matrix elements that reflect frequent visitation attemptsincreases with respect to those matrix elements that link mobile devicesand femto AP that are rarely in close proximity so as to result inattachment attempt. As the number of femto APs increases, mobilitymatrices become increasingly more powerful as an instrument to reportand facility location intelligence. It is noted that mobility matricesincorporate non-random mobility features associated with actualvisitation of deployed femto APs by a mobile device that travels a femtonetwork deployment.

As part of visitation data process, analysis component 416 can operateon the formatted data to at least one of compute statistics (e.g., meanvalues, variances, covariance matrices . . . ), extract patterns ofmobility or visitation data clusters with specific features, infervisitation event(s), in order to facilitate provision of visitation datathat can be exploited by location based services. It is noted thatpatterns of mobility or compilation(s) of historical mobility profilecan facilitate non-real-time location services; as an example,generation of a mobility pattern for a parent that regularly takes hisor her child(ren) to after-school activity(ies) can facilitate alocation service platform to supply various alternative drivingdirection(s) to ensure most efficient route(s) from a parent's startinglocation to the location of the after-school activity(ies). With respectto specific features of visitation data cluster, such features caninclude a specific mobile device; a specific group of mobile devices; aspecific femto AP or group of femto APs; a specific time of day (e.g.,rush hour(s), or evening(s)), week (e.g., weekend), or month (e.g.,first Monday of month); or the like. Analysis component 416 also cancorrelate visitation data with subscriber intelligence (e.g., customersegment(s)) available through subscriber database 256; it is noted thatsuch correlation can provide a wealth of information relevant tomarketing efforts associated with at least one of a network operator ora location based services provider. Moreover, analysis component 416 canexploit visitation history, or visitation data, particularly recordedinstances of attachment timers, or dwell times, to identify areas withweak macro coverage and/or areas where transmission form femto AP(s) ispotentially contributing significant interference. Such visitationhistory information can be exploited to (a) pinpoint new cell growth oridentify one or (b) more femto APs that can operate best if allowed tobe open and not access restricted; open access can be attained throughaccess list(s) that allow attachment from any device operated through anetwork service provider that operated the one or more femto APs. Inutilization scenario (b), analysis component 416 can autonomouslydetermine, e.g., through cost-utility analysis implemented via machinelearning techniques, that a femto access point is to be configured as“open;” such determination can be based at least in part on statisticsof attachment procedures, as revealed via visitation data, that indicatea substantive number of provisioned mobile devices interact with thefemto AP determined to be configured as open. It is noted that openfemto APs can be utilized as a server (in open configuration) ratherthan as an interferer (in closed configuration with access dictatedthrough access list(s)). It is noted that to avoid privacy issuesassociated with configuration of home-based femto APs as open femto APs,network operator can deploy “system” or “network” femto APs rather thanhome-based femto APs to serve as server or relay stations, which canmitigate interference, enhance macro, and promote network resourceoffloading without potential risks to content(s) or integrity ofhome-based femto APs. To conduct various analyses, analysis component416 employs one or more algorithms retained in algorithm(s) storage 422.In addition, analysis component 416 can exploit one or more processorssuch as processor(s) 226 to carry out, at least in part, the analysis.

As employed herein, to infer refers to reason and draw a conclusionbased upon a set of metrics, arguments, or known outcomes in controlledscenarios. Thus, to infer forthcoming visitation event(s), analysiscomponent 416 can exploit artificial intelligence (AI) methods ormachine learning methods. Artificial intelligence techniques typicallyapply advanced mathematical algorithms—e.g., decision trees, neuralnetworks, regression analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) forfeature and pattern extraction, cluster analysis, genetic algorithm, orreinforced learning—to a data set; e.g., a visitation data set such asmobility matrices.

In particular, analysis component 416 can employ one of numerousmethodologies for learning from data and then drawing inferences fromthe models so constructed. In an aspect, the methodologies can beretained, at least in part, on algorithm(s) storage 426. For example,Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) and related prototypical dependency modelscan be employed. General probabilistic graphical models, such asDempster-Shafer networks and Bayesian networks like those created bystructure search using a Bayesian model score or approximation can alsobe utilized. In addition, linear classifiers, such as support vectormachines (SVMs), non-linear classifiers like methods referred to as“neural network” methodologies, fuzzy logic methodologies can also beemployed.

FIG. 5 illustrates diagrams 500 and 550 of a set of femto access pointsand subscriber stations, and an example mobility matrix, respectively,in accordance with aspects described herein. With respect to diagram500, nine femto APs 510 _(J−4)-510 _(J+4), with J a natural numbergreater than four, embody a set of femto APs to which mobile devices,e.g., UE 520 _(P) and UE 530 _(Q), can attempt to attach. Femto APs 510_(J−4)-510 _(J+4) are located in disparate geographic loci, and assignedlocation area codes, indicated through roman numerals I-IV, with aspecific illustrative reuse plan. Subscriber stations 520P and 520Qembody and illustrative example set of mobile devices that can travelthroughout at least a portion of the set of femto AP 510 _(J−4)-510_(J+4) and attempt attachment thereto; such attachment attemptsfacilitate generation of visitation data and one or more relatedmobility matrices. Each of the subscriber stations 520 _(P) and 520 _(Q)has a unique device identifier (e.g., an IMSI, a ESN, a MEID, an MDN . .. ). As described above, attempts to from a subscriber station, e.g.,520 _(P) or 520 _(Q), to attach to one or more of femto APs 510_(J−4)-510 _(J+4) result in respective counts, e.g., M_(Q,κ), withκ=J−4, J−3, . . . ,J+3, J+4, or M_(P,κ), which can be employed to definea mobile matrix such as the one illustrated in diagram 550. In anaspect, one or more network components, e.g., data management component404 through mobility matrix constructor can produce example mobilitymatrix 550. To further illustrate mobility matrix 550, it is noted thatspecific mobility patterns of a mobile device can results to severalmobility matrix elements being zero: In diagram 550, arrows that connectsubscriber station 520 _(P) and femto AP 510 _(J−1), 510 _(J+2) and 510_(J−3) can reveal a mobility patter for such subscriber station, whichcan lead to mobility matrix elements M_(P,J−1), M_(P,J+2), and M_(P,J−3)being non-zero elements, whereas the remainder matrix elementsassociated with subscriber station 520 _(P) are zero. Likewise, forsubscriber station 520 _(Q), mobility pattern thereof as revealedthrough arrows associated therewith, can result in only matrix elementsM_(Q,J−3) and M_(Q,J+4) being non zero. Accordingly, an example mobilitymatrix related to illustrated example mobility patterns can be a sparsematrix.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example system 600 that exploitsvisitation report(s) for location based services in accordance withaspects described herein. Location based services (LBS) platform 610receives visitation report(s) 232 as a source of location intelligence.Through signaling 602, LBS platform 610 can request, or determine,specific content in or format of visitation report(s) 232; as an examplesignaling 602 can be conveyed by collection component 614, and canrequest real-time reports or historical reports. In an aspect, signaling602 can be received through gateway node(s) 218 and processed via reportcomponent 222; signaling can be embodied in one or more bits deliveredthrough a management packet via network link 604 (e.g., a referencelink). As described above, visitation report(s) 232 convey locationinformation associated with one or more specific handset identifiers(e.g., IMSI, ESN, MEID, MDN). In addition, in an aspect of the subjectapplication, LBS platform 610 collects location information form a setof disparate location intelligence source(s) 612; e.g., GPS data, datagathered from Wi-Fi network(s) and access points therein, macro cell ID,or radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. It is noted that locationintelligence form disparate source(s) 612 also can be specific to one ormore UE identifiers. In an aspect, LBS platform 612 can be a part ofservice network(s) (NWs) that provides data to femto network platform210, and related macro network platform. Visitation report(s) 232 anddata from the other source(s) of location intelligence 612 can bereceived via collection component 614. Received location intelligencecan be retained in location data store 626.

Before utilizing location intelligence based at least in part on atleast one of (i) real-time or historical mobility report(s), e.g.,visitation report(s) 232, or (ii) location intelligence from disparatesource(s), e.g., location intelligence source(s) 612, LBS platform 610,trough assessment component 618, can assess or identify which portion(s)of location information is most accurate, timely, and suitable for eachcombination of reported mobile device (e.g., a reported IMSI, ESN, MEID,MDN, etc.) and location based service or application. In an examplescenario, femto cell visitation event(s) or associated history can bemore accurate and timely than Wi-Fi-based information, or macro cell IDinformation, but if newer GPS (e.g., assisted GPS) location informationbecomes available, assessment component 618 can assign precedence tosuch GPS information for real-time applications. In another examplescenario, historical mobility report(s), e.g., visitation report(s) 232,can provision historical location information useful for othernon-real-time services for the subscriber. Such historical locationinformation can be mobility profile for one or more handsets; theprofile can span a predetermined time interval determined by LBSplatform 610 through signaling 602.

Based at least upon the timing or content of location information asprovided through visitation report(s) 232 or other location intelligencesource(s) 612, LBS platform 610 can elect to effectuate immediate, orsubstantially immediate, action for a reported handset such as deliveradvertisement(s) or other marketing and branding element(s) (e.g.,coupons); compose a handset-location (e.g., an IMSI-geocode) databasefor on-demand application(s) or service(s) such as search or directoryservices; or construct a historical mobility profile forpattern-specific location services such as optimal or nearly-optimaldriving directions provisioning. Applications or services that exploitlocation intelligence received through visitation report(s) or locationintelligence source(s) 612 can be effected at least in part through oneor more applications retained in application(s) store 622; in an aspect,application driver component 624 can execute, at least in part, the oneor more applications.

In example system 600, one or more processors 630 functionally coupledto LBS platform 610 can be configured to confer, at least in part,functionality to components therein. The one or more processors 630 alsocan execute one or more components that reside within LBS platform 610.To at least such ends, the one or more processors 630 can execute codeinstructions or program modules (not shown) stored in a memory (notshown) functionally coupled to LBS platform 610.

In view of the example systems described above, example methodologies,or methods, that can be implemented in accordance with the disclosedsubject matter can be better appreciated with reference to flowcharts inFIGS. 7-11. For purposes of simplicity of explanation, examplemethodologies disclosed herein are presented and described as a seriesof acts; however, it is to be understood and appreciated that theclaimed subject matter is not limited by the order of acts, as some actsmay occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts fromthat shown and described herein. For example, a methodology disclosedherein could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelatedstates or events, such as in a state diagram or call flow. Moreover,interaction diagram(s) may represent methodologies in accordance withthe disclosed subject matter when disparate entities enact disparateportions of the methodologies. Furthermore, not all illustrated acts maybe required to implement a methodology in accordance with the subjectspecification. Further yet, two or more of the disclosed methodologiescan be implemented in combination with each other, to accomplish one ormore features or advantages herein described. It should be still furtherappreciated that the methodologies disclosed hereinafter and throughoutthis specification are capable of being stored on an article ofmanufacture to facilitate transporting and transferring suchmethodologies, or methods, to computers for execution, and thusimplementation, by a processor or for storage in a memory.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example method 700 for collecting attachmentsignaling associated with attachment procedure(s) to one or more femtocells, and forwarding femto visitation data according to aspectsdescribed herein. In an aspect, the subject example method can beeffected through at least a portion of a mobile network (e.g., femtonetwork platform 210), or one or more components therein. In addition,one or more processors (e.g., processor(s) 226) that confer, at least inpart, functionality to the one or components can enact, at least inpart, the subject example method 700. At act 710, attachment signalingfor a set of mobile devices and a set of femto access points iscollected. Each femto AP within the set of femto APs is provisioned toprovide femto coverage. In an aspect, attachment signaling originatesfrom mobility events associated with a mobile device that travelsthroughout the set of femto access points. In addition, attachmentsignaling can be part of at least one of LAU or RAU procedures which canoccurs when one or more of the handsets in the set of handsets operatein idle mode in the vicinity of a femto AP, and detect pilot signalsoriginated there from. It is noted that each of the set of mobiledevices and femto APs can include one or more elements.

At act 720, femto visitation data for a set of mobile devices and a setof femto access points generated based at least in part on the collectedattachment signaling. The visitation data can be generated through acomponent that manages macro-to-femto handover or femto-to-macrohandover (e.g., mobility component 220); the component enacts, at leastin part, the subject example method 700. The femto visitation data caninclude a handset identifier (e.g., an IMSI, MEID, or ESN), a femto APlocation such as latitude and longitude coordinates or geocodeassociated therewith, a ZIP code, a parcel identifier, a street address,or the like. At act 730, the generated femto visitation data for the setof mobile devices and the set of femto access points is retained. In anaspect such data is retained in a memory within the one or more mobilenetwork components that can enact the subject example method 700; seeFIG. 2. At act 740, a report on one or more visitation events extractedat least in part from the generated visitation data is supplied. In anaspect, the report can be generated in real time or can includehistorical data that spans a predetermined time interval. Thepredetermined time interval can be configurable and can be establishedby a component (e.g., mobility component 214) that enacts, at least inpart, the subject example method. The supplied report can adopt severalformats such as at least one of a three-tuple comprising a userequipment (UE) ID, a femto AP location, and a timestamp; a mobilitymatrix; a mobility profile or pattern; or the like. It is noted that thesupplied report (e.g., visitation report(s) 232) can be formatted inaccordance with one or more of various schemas, such as hypertext markuplanguage (HTML) and extensible markup language (XML) and variants (e.g.,state chart XML (SCXML)), that are portable among computing platforms,wireless (e.g., a server, a portable computer or mobile device) orotherwise, and object-oriented computing languages employed by awireless device such as Delphi, Visual Basic, Python, Perl, Java, C++,and C#, and circuitry programming level languages such as Verilog. It isnoted that the report can be supplied in response to received signalingfrom an entity that can consume location intelligence within thesupplied report. Received signaling also can dictate at least in partthe format of the supplied report. At act 750, the report on one or morevisitation events is conveyed. In an aspect, the report is delivered toa location based services platform for consumption in one or moreapplications, which can be real-time or historical applications.

FIG. 8 presents a flowchart of an example method 800 for supplying areport on visitation data according to aspects described herein. In anaspect, the subject example method can be effected through at least aportion of a mobile network (e.g., femto network platform 210), or oneor more components therein. In addition, one or more processors (e.g.,processor(s) 226) that confer, at least in part, functionality to theone or components can enact, at least in part, the subject examplemethod 800. At act 810, at least a portion of generated visitation datafor a set of mobile devices and a set of femto access points isaggregated. Data is aggregated over a configurable time interval thatcan be determined by a network operator or it can be submitted by aconsumer of the visitation data (e.g., location based services platform610). In an aspect, the set of mobile devices can include one or moreelements. As an example, aggregation at the single device level canfacilitate monitoring location of a specific device. As another example,a set of devices linked to a group of related subscriber also can beaggregated and thus monitored. It should be appreciated that aggregationof visitation data and reporting thereof can facilitate provision ofnon-realtime location services, when the aggregated visitation data isreported to a location based service platform. At act 820, one or moremobility matrices (see FIG. 5) are generated based at least in part onthe aggregated data. At act 830, a report that conveys the generated oneor more mobility matrices based at least in part on the aggregated datais produced. In an aspect, report component 214 can produce the report.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an example method 900 for supplying a report onvisitation data according to aspects described herein. It is noted thatthe subject example method 900 supplies a real-time report of femtovisitation data. In an aspect, the subject example method can beeffected through at least a portion of a mobile network (e.g., femtonetwork platform 210), or one or more components therein. In addition,one or more processors (e.g., processor(s) 226) that confer, at least inpart, functionality to the one or components can enact, at least inpart, the subject example method 900. At act 910, data on a femtovisitation event for a mobile device is extracted. At act 920, a reportis generated that identifies the mobile device, a location of a femtoaccess point to which the mobile device attempted to attach, andtimestamp for the femto visitation event. Location of the femto AP canbe identified and conveyed via a code assigned at the time ofprovisioning the femto AP.

FIG. 10 presents a flowchart of an example method 1000 for supplying areport on visitation data according to aspects described herein. In anaspect, the subject example method can be effected through at least aportion of a mobile network (e.g., femto network platform 210), or oneor more components therein. In addition, one or more processors (e.g.,processor(s) 226) that confer, at least in part, functionality to theone or components can enact, at least in part, the subject examplemethod 1000. At act 1010, femto visitation data associated with at leastone of one or more mobile devices, one or more femto APs, or one or moretime intervals is analyzed. Analysis can include at least one ofgenerating time and space correlations among the one or more mobiledevices and the one or more femto APs; cluster identification ofmobility events in space and time, the mobility events gleaned from thefemto visitation data; computation of statistics associated withmobility events; or the like. At act 1020, based on the analyzed femtovisitation data, a mobility pattern for the one or more mobile devicesis extracted, or a mobility behavior is inferred for the one or moremobile devices, or a combination thereof is effected.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an example method 1100 for exploiting locationinformation extracted from femto visitation data according to aspectsdescribed herein. In an aspect, a location based service provider (e.g.,LBS component 610) can effectuate, at least in part, the subject examplemethod 1100. A processor that confers, at least in part, functionalityto one or more component within the location based service provider alsocan enact, at least in part, the subject example method 1100.

At act 1110, at least one of one or more femto visitation reports orlocation intelligence from a set of sources is received; it is notedthat the set of sources can include one or more entities. At act 1120,at least one of the received one or more femto visitation reports orlocation intelligence from the set of sources is assessed. At act 1130,based on the assessment, location intelligence that is at least one ofmost accurate relative to disparate sources in the set of sources,timely, or suitable is identified. At act 1140, the identified locationintelligence that is at least one of the most accurate relative todisparate sources in the set of sources, timely, or suitable isemployed. In an aspect, location intelligence is employed by thelocation service provide that can enact, at least in part, the subjectexample method 1100. At act 1150, it is checked whether at least one offemto visitation report(s) or location intelligence is updated. In anaspect, update(s) can be probed by monitoring signaling received fromone or more component that generate femto visitation data reports. Inanother aspects, source of location intelligence also can be monitored.When the outcome of act 1150 is affirmative, flow is directed to act1110. Conversely, when outcome of act 1150 is negative, flow is directedto act 1140.

To provide further context for various aspects of the subjectspecification, FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of an example macroand femto wireless network environments that can exploit attachmentsignaling and derived real-time or historical visitation data forlocation intelligence in accordance with various aspects describedherein. Wireless communication environment 1200 includes two wirelessnetwork platforms: (i) A macro network platform 1210 which serves, orfacilitates communication with user equipment 1275 (e.g., mobile 120_(A)) via a macro radio access network (RAN) 1270. It should beappreciated that in cellular wireless technologies (e.g., 3GPP UMTS,HSPA, 3GPP LTE, 3GPP2 UMB), macro network platform 1210 is embodied in aCore Network. (ii) A femto network platform 1280, which can providecommunication with UE 1275 through a femto RAN 1290, which is linked tothe femto network platform 1280 via backhaul pipe(s) 1285 (e.g.,backhaul link(s) 153). It should be appreciated that macro networkplatform 1210 typically hands off UE 1275 to femto network platform 1210once UE 1275 attaches (e.g., through macro-to-femto handover) to femtoRAN 1290, which includes a set of deployed femto APs (e.g., femto AP130) that can operate in accordance with aspects described herein.

It is noted that RAN includes base station(s), or access point(s), andits associated electronic circuitry and deployment site(s), in additionto a wireless radio link operated in accordance with the basestation(s). Accordingly, macro RAN 1270 can comprise various coveragecells like cell 105, while femto RAN 1290 can comprise multiple femtocell access points such as femto AP 130. Deployment density in femto RAN1290 is substantially higher than in macro RAN 1270.

Generally, both macro and femto network platforms 1210 and 1280 includecomponents, e.g., nodes, gateways, interfaces, servers, or platforms,that facilitate both packet-switched (PS) (e.g., internet protocol (IP),frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)) and circuit-switched (CS)traffic (e.g., voice and data) and control generation for networkedwireless communication. In an aspect of the subject application, macronetwork platform 1210 includes CS gateway node(s) 1212 which caninterface CS traffic received from legacy networks like telephonynetwork(s) 1040 (e.g., public switched telephone network (PSTN), orpublic land mobile network (PLMN)) or a SS7 network 1260. Circuitswitched gateway 1212 can authorize and authenticate traffic (e.g.,voice) arising from such networks. Additionally, CS gateway 1212 canaccess mobility, or roaming, data generated through SS7 network 1260;for instance, mobility data stored in a VLR, which can reside in memory1230. Moreover, CS gateway node(s) 1212 interfaces CS-based traffic andsignaling and gateway node(s) 1218. As an example, in a 3GPP UMTSnetwork, PS gateway node(s) 1218 can be embodied in gateway GPRS supportnode(s) (GGSN).

In addition to receiving and processing CS-switched traffic andsignaling, PS gateway node(s) 1218 can authorize and authenticatePS-based data sessions with served (e.g., through macro RAN) wirelessdevices. Data sessions can include traffic exchange with networksexternal to the macro network platform 1210, like wide area network(s)(WANs) 1250, enterprise networks (NW(s)) 1270 (e.g., enhanced 911), orservice NW(s) 1280 like IP multimedia subsystem (IMS); it should beappreciated that local area network(s) (LANs), which may be a part ofenterprise NW(s), can also be interfaced with macro network platform1210 through PS gateway node(s) 1218. Packet-switched gateway node(s)1218 generates packet data contexts when a data session is established.To that end, in an aspect, PS gateway node(s) 1218 can include a tunnelinterface (e.g., tunnel termination gateway (TTG) in 3GPP UMTSnetwork(s); not shown) which can facilitate packetized communicationwith disparate wireless network(s), such as Wi-Fi networks. It should befurther appreciated that the packetized communication can includemultiple flows that can be generated through server(s) 1214. It is to benoted that in 3GPP UMTS network(s), gateway node(s) 1018 (e.g., GGSN)and tunnel interface (e.g., TTG) comprise a packet data gateway (PDG).

Macro network platform 1210 also includes serving node(s) 1216 thatconvey the various packetized flows of information, or data streams,received through PS gateway node(s) 1218. As an example, in a 3GPP UMTSnetwork, serving node(s) can be embodied in serving GPRS support node(s)(SGSN).

As indicated above, server(s) 1214 in macro network platform 1210 canexecute numerous applications (e.g., location services, online gaming,wireless banking, wireless device management . . . ) that generatemultiple disparate packetized data streams or flows, and manage (e.g.,schedule, queue, format . . . ) such flows. Such application(s), forexample can include add-on features to standard services provided bymacro network platform 1210. Data streams can be conveyed to PS gatewaynode(s) 1218 for authorization/authentication and initiation of a datasession, and to serving node(s) 1216 for communication thereafter.Server(s) 1214 can also effect security (e.g., implement one or morefirewalls) of macro network platform 1210 to ensure network's operationand data integrity in addition to authorization and authenticationprocedures that CS gateway node(s) 1212 and PS gateway node(s) 1218 canenact. Moreover, server(s) 1214 can provision services from externalnetwork(s), e.g., WAN 1250, or Global Positioning System (GPS)network(s), which can be a part of enterprise NW(s) 1280. It is to benoted that server(s) 1214 can include one or more processor configuredto confer at least in part the functionality of macro network platform1210. To that end, the one or more processor can execute codeinstructions stored in memory 1230, for example.

In example wireless environment 1200, memory 1230 stores informationrelated to operation of macro network platform 1210. Information caninclude business data associated with subscribers; market plans andstrategies, e.g., promotional campaigns, business partnerships;operational data for mobile devices served through macro networkplatform; service and privacy policies; end-user service logs for lawenforcement; and so forth. Memory 1230 can also store information fromat least one of telephony network(s) 1240, WAN 1250, SS7 network 1260,enterprise NW(s) 1270, or service NW(s) 1280.

Regarding femto network platform 1281, it includes a femto gatewaynode(s) 1284, which have substantially the same functionality as PSgateway node(s) 1218. Additionally, femto gateway node(s) 1284 can alsoinclude substantially all functionality of serving node(s) 1216.Disparate gateway node(s) 1284 can control or operate disparate sets ofdeployed femto APs, which can be a part of femto RAN 1290. In an aspectof the subject application, femto gateway node(s) 1284 can aggregateoperational data received from deployed femto APs. Moreover, femtogateway node(s) 1284 can convey received attachment signaling toserver(s) 1282, which can embody at least in part a mobility componentand a report component that facilitate, respectively, extraction ofvisitation data from attachment signaling and supply and delivery ofvisitation report(s) that convey location information, in accordancewith aspects described herein. Clock system 1282 can provide one or moreclock strata to manage network time provision and synchronization; clocksystem 1283 can embody clock layer(s) in example system 200 describedhereinbefore.

Memory 1286 can retain additional information relevant to operation ofthe various components of femto network platform 1281. For exampleoperational information that can be stored in memory 1286 can comprise,but is not limited to, subscriber intelligence; contracted services;maintenance and service records; femto cell configuration (e.g., devicesserved through femto RAN 1290; authorized subscribers associated withone or more deployed femto APs); service policies and specifications;privacy policies; add-on features; so forth.

In addition to embodying mobility component and report component,server(s) 1282 have substantially the same functionality as described inconnection with server(s) 1214. In an aspect, server(s) 1282 can executemultiple application(s) that provide service (e.g., voice and data) towireless devices served through femto RAN 1290. Server(s) 1282 can alsoprovide security features (e.g., firewall) to femto network platform,and timing management such as implementation of network time protocol(NTP). In addition, server(s) 1282 can manage (e.g., schedule, queue,format . . . ) substantially all packetized flows (e.g., IP-based, framerelay-based, ATM-based) it generates for a femto AP, in addition to datadirected to a femto AP and received from macro network platform 1210, ordirectly from WAN 1250 or service NW(s) 1280, for example. Furthermore,server(s) 1282 can effect provisioning of femto cell service, and effectoperations and maintenance. It is to be noted that server(s) 1282 caninclude one or more processors configured to provide at least in partthe functionality of femto network platform 1280. To that end, the oneor more processors can execute code instructions stored in memory 1286,for example.

Various aspects or features described herein may be implemented as amethod; apparatus, either as hardware or hardware and software orfirmware; or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques. Implementation(s) that include software orfirmware can be effected at least in part through program modules storedin a memory and executed by one or more processors. The term “article ofmanufacture” as used herein is intended to encompass a computer programaccessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media. Forexample, computer readable media can include but are not limited tomagnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips. . . ), optical discs [e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disc(DVD), Blu-ray disc (BD) . . . ], smart cards, and flash memory devices(e.g., card, stick, key drive . . . ).

As it employed in the subject specification, the term “processor” canrefer to substantially any computing processing unit or devicecomprising, but not limited to comprising, single-core processors;single-processors with software multithread execution capability;multi-core processors; multi-core processors with software multithreadexecution capability; multi-core processors with hardware multithreadtechnology; parallel platforms; and parallel platforms with distributedshared memory. Additionally, a processor can refer to an integratedcircuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), aprogrammable logic controller (PLC), a complex programmable logic device(CPLD), a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. Processors can exploit nano-scale architectures suchas, but not limited to, molecular and quantum-dot based transistors,switches and gates, in order to optimize space usage or enhanceperformance of user equipment. A processor may also be implemented as acombination of computing processing units.

In the subject specification, the term “memory” refers to data stores,algorithm stores, and substantially any other information store relevantto operation and functionality of a component comprising the memory; forinstance, such information can comprise, but is not limited to,signaling metric thresholds, historical attachment data, subscriberinformation, femto cell configuration (e.g., devices served by a femtoAP), location identifiers, and so forth. It will be appreciated that thememory components described herein can be either volatile memory ornonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory.By way of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory caninclude read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electricallyprogrammable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flashmemory. Volatile memory can include random access memory (RAM), whichacts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and notlimitation, RAM is available in many forms such as synchronous RAM(SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rateSDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), anddirect Rambus RAM (DRRAM). Additionally, the disclosed memory componentsof systems or methods herein are intended to comprise, without beinglimited to comprising, these and any other suitable types of memory.

What has been described above includes examples of the claimed subjectmatter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivablecombination of components or methodologies for purposes of describingthe claimed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art mayrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of the claimedsubject matter are possible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter isintended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variationsthat fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes,” “has,”“possesses,” and the like are used in either the detailed description orthe claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similarto the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed asa transitional word in a claim.

1. A method, comprising: aggregating, by a system comprising aprocessor, visitation data for mobile devices and femto access pointdevices resulting in aggregated visitation data; and generating, by thesystem, mobility matrices based on the aggregated visitation data,wherein a mobility matrix of the mobility matrices comprises integermatrix elements indicative of a number of attachment attempts from amobile device of the mobile devices to a femto access point device ofthe femto access point devices.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising generating, by the system, a report that comprisesinformation indicative of the mobility matrices.
 3. The method of claim2, wherein the report comprises information indicative of andetermination regarding a visitation event, and wherein the visitationevent represents a visitation of the mobile device to the femto accesspoint device.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the report comprisesinformation associated with a mobility pattern, and wherein the mobilitypattern represents location information for the mobile device over adefined amount of time.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobilitymatrix comprises information indicative of an identifier of the mobiledevice in a portion of the mobility matrix.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein an accuracy level of the integer matrix elements increases withan increase in the number of the attachment attempts.
 7. Amachine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructionsthat, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance ofoperations, comprising: combining visitation information generated bymobile devices and femto access point devices resulting in combinedvisitation information; and generating mobility matrices based on thecombined visitation information, wherein a mobility matrix of themobility matrices is indicative of a number of attachment attempts froma mobile device of the mobile devices to a femto access point device ofthe femto access point devices.
 8. The machine-readable storage mediumof claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise generating a reportthat comprises information indicative of the mobility matrices.
 9. Themachine-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the mobility matrixcomprises information indicative of an identifier of the mobile devicein a defined portion of the mobility matrix.
 10. The machine-readablestorage medium of claim 8, wherein the report comprises informationindicative of an inference regarding a visitation event representing aconnection of the mobile device to the femto access point device. 11.The machine-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the reportcomprises information associated with a mobility pattern, and whereinthe mobility pattern represents geographical information for the mobiledevice over a defined amount of time.
 12. The machine-readable storagemedium of claim 11, wherein the report further comprises additionalinformation associated with a location of the femto access point deviceand timestamp information for a visitation event for the femto accesspoint device, and wherein the visitation event represents an initialcommunication between the mobile device and the femto access pointdevice.
 13. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein theoperations further comprise generating driving direction informationassociated with a selected driving route from a starting location to anending location based on the mobility pattern.
 14. The machine-readablestorage medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprisedetermining that a geographical area has coverage that satisfies adefined criterion.
 15. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 14,wherein the determining is based on visitation data for the mobiledevice.
 16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein anaccuracy level of the mobility matrix increases with an increase in thenumber of the attachment attempts.
 17. A system, comprising: aprocessor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor, facilitate performance of operations,comprising: aggregating visitation information associated with mobiledevices and femto access point devices resulting in aggregatedvisitation information; and generating mobility matrices based on theaggregated visitation information, wherein a mobility matrix of themobility matrices is indicative of a number of attachment attempts froma mobile device of the mobile devices to a femto access point device ofthe femto access point devices.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein theoperations further comprise: generating a report that comprisesinformation indicative of the mobility matrices, wherein the reportcomprises information associated with a mobility pattern, and whereinthe mobility pattern represents location information for the mobiledevice at different points in time.
 19. The system of claim 18, whereinthe operations further comprise generating driving direction informationassociated with a selected driving route from a starting location to anending location based on the mobility pattern.
 20. The system of claim18, wherein the operations further comprise determining thattransmission from the femto access point device satisfies a definedcondition related to interference, and wherein the determining is basedon visitation data for the mobile device.